Bucharest vs Lisbon - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Bucharest	Lisbon
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1116	$1889
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2864	$4274
🏠 One person rent	$525	$1221
🏘️ Family rent	$907	$2077
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$421
🚐 Transport expenses	$80	$96.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1391	$1510
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	77	93
😀 Quality of life	81	84
🏙️ Population	1.72M	546K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 41% less expensive than in Lisbon. Cities ranked 4913th and 2357th ($1116 vs $1889) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Romania and Portugal, respectively. Check Romania vs Portugal comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Bucharest compared to 0.8 months in Lisbon. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Lisbon ranked 2nd in Portugal, while ranked 646th and 479th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bucharest vs Lisbon infographic

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Prices in Bucharest vs Lisbon

Prices for goods and services in Bucharest and Lisbon are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Bucharest	Lisbon
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.7	$12.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$54.8	$55.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.27	$9.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.41	$3.25
☕ Cappuccino	$3.45	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.33	$2.42
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$1374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$376	$1010
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1044	$2516
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$667	$1726
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.4	$102
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$153	$156
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.6	$36.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.28%	3.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3651	$7218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2102	$4683
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$2.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.3	$45.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.02	$12.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.68	$2.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.73	$1.16
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$1.58
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.41	$3.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.89	$12.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.34	$8.37
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.67
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$2.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$1.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.38	$2.75
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.07	$6.57
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$1.34
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.39	$6.84
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$6.84
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.47	$4.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.81	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.18	$2.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.8	$45.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.84	$8.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.8	$90.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.1	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.4	$109
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.7	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$664	$624
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14350	$17217

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$970
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$910
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$885
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$777
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$802
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$692
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$857
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$775
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$762
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$873
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$675
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$681
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1056
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$752
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$835
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$667
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$712
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$789
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$898
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$871
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$909
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$643
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$895
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$591
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1039
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1024
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1103
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$618
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$805
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$703
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$854
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$832
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$926
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$797
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$706
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$848
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$766
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$724
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$668
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$749

Cities near Lisbon

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.6 mi	Almada	$1701
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Amadora	$1481
8.8 km or 5.5 mi	Queluz	$1522
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Odivelas	$1505
10 km or 6.3 mi	Barreiro	$1463
11 km or 6.7 mi	Amora	$1352
12 km or 7.3 mi	Seixal	$1394
12 km or 7.4 mi	Oeiras	$1756
13 km or 8 mi	Agualva-Cacem	$1533
13 km or 8.1 mi	Loures	$1509
17 km or 10 mi	Montijo	$1663
18 km or 11 mi	Moita	$1486
18 km or 11 mi	Algueirao-Mem Martins	$1525
21 km or 13 mi	Sintra	$1577
22 km or 14 mi	Cascais	$1656
28 km or 17 mi	Mafra	$1486
29 km or 18 mi	Palmela	$1412
30 km or 19 mi	Vila Franca de Xira	$1216
31 km or 19 mi	Sesimbra	$1329
32 km or 20 mi	Setubal	$1390
39 km or 24 mi	Alenquer	$1379
42 km or 26 mi	Torres Vedras	$1589
42 km or 26 mi	Benavente	$1383
47 km or 29 mi	Azambuja	$1370
47 km or 29 mi	Salvaterra de Magos	$1385
58 km or 36 mi	Cartaxo	$1357
61 km or 38 mi	Lourinha	$1498
71 km or 44 mi	Santarem	$1305
72 km or 45 mi	Almeirim	$1316
73 km or 45 mi	Peniche	$1681
77 km or 48 mi	Caldas da Rainha	$1289
90 km or 56 mi	Santiago do Cacem	$1410
94 km or 58 mi	Alcobaca	$1333
101 km or 63 mi	Torres Novas	$1221
103 km or 64 mi	Porto de Mos	$1304
111 km or 69 mi	Evora	$1350
115 km or 72 mi	Ourem	$1214
117 km or 72 mi	Marinha Grande	$1297
118 km or 73 mi	Tomar	$1006
118 km or 73 mi	Abrantes	$1231